New York, I Love You, But You're Bringing Me Down
by SevenForAllManKind
Summary: Post episode 10 Turning Point . Damon takes Elena to New York, and as they party, sight-see, and shop through out the week, their relationship grows in to something that neither of them understand. Delena.
1. Chapter 1

The car rolled several times before creaking to a stop in the middle of the vacant highway. The crumpled figure lay in the highway, silent and still. Elena was nearly knocked unconscious. Her head was bleeding and she ached everywhere. She blinked hard and craned her neck to see who she had hit. She was shaking from shock and fear, and when she saw her victim, she began to hyperventilate. The figure slowly sat up with a sickening crack. It began snapping its bones back in to place, Elena's mouth opening with horror. It walked towards her at a moderately slow pace with even, menacing steps. She could feel the scream building in her throat before it made its appearance. When it did, the figure moved to the car in an instance, before putting its finger to her lips.

"Don't be dramatic." An impossible-not-to-recognize voice said.

"D-d-damon?" Elena stuttered. The dark figure nodded and rolled his eyes. "You scared me." She whispered.

"You hit me with your car. Consider us even." His witty voice responded. "Come on, we've got to get you out of there." He reached in to the car and tried pull Elena out, only realizing that the car was too caved in to get her out. He popped the roof up with a nudge of his hand and pushed away the shattered glass in the window. He once again reached for Elena, this time coming up successful, and pulling her out of the wrecked car. She was a mess. She had blood dripping down her forehead from a cut near her hairline. The skin that was visible was covered with bruises, but nothing seemed to be broken, and he couldn't detect any internal bleeding. He carried her to the side of the road before setting her down, with her head against his leg. He thought for a moment about what he was going to do. Elena appeared to have lost consciousness and was sleeping in Damon's arms, unsuspecting and innocent.

Damon picked her up and started running towards where he remembered leaving his car the night before.

It was only about a twenty minute run, and his classic 1969 Mustang, which he treasured beyond almost anything, sat.

The car was in mint condition. It was a glossy black and had black leather interior. He may not have been human, but he was definitely still a car-loving man.

He opened the passenger side of the car and gingerly placed Elena in the seat, buckling her seat belt just in case. He slowly walked to the driver's seat, taking his time, thinking about where to go. If he were smart and considerate, he would take her home to Stefan, but he hardly ever got to be alone with Elena, and he was going to take advantage of it while he could.

Elena woke up with a pounding headache and a stiff neck. She tried to remember where she was when she recalled the events of last night that she had been awake for. Stefan…the crash…Damon…She couldn't remember all of it, her mind felt unnaturally foggy. She blinked hard and opened her eyes. It was pitch dark out, the only light in the sky was the moon, twinkling down from above. She realized she was in a car driving down an empty highway.

"Good morning, Elena." Damon said in a chipper voice. She cleared her throat and swallowed, feeling an ache in her esophagus.

"What time is it?" She asked. He tapped the dash of the car, pointing out a small clock embedded in to it. The hands read 8:30 AM.

"I've been sleeping all night? Where are we going?" Elena asked with a little bit of panic. She didn't if Jenna had noticed her absence, but how could she not? She had to call Jenna and let her know that she was all right.

"We're going on a little road trip to New York…at least I think that's where I was headed." Damon infused a bit of false-concern in to the last part. "We're just taking the more secluded back roads." He was smiling his cocky little grin, the one that Elena loved and hated all at once.

"I can't go to New York, Damon." She stated firmly. "For one, Jenna is going to freak out when I don't come home. And, I have this thing called school, and if I don't attend, I don't get to graduate." Damon rolled his eyes.

"Calm down, Princess. I already called Jenna, I informed her that I was your biology teacher, and to better understand the wilderness, or something, I was taking the entire junior class on a two night hiking trip, which the entire junior class is now taking, in case you were wondering. I then just called the school and pretended to be your uncle and told them you had a bad case of mono from spending a little too much time with Stefan. Hah, kidding. Seriously, though. It would not be difficult to kidnap you and never bring you back. Your aunt is a little gullible…actually, so is your school." He now seemed to only be talking to himself.

"No. Take me back. I mean it, take me back!" Elena said loudly, in a firm voice. Damon didn't remotely waver.

"Sorry, no can do. One way ticket." Elena was shaking with anger, but she knew it would do no good. She sat back in her seat and stared miserably out the window at the utter blackness.

"You know, you could try to look on the bright side. We can go shopping…or go out!" His attempts at persuading her failed. Elena liked shopping, but she had never been a huge partier, and was way too irritated to be in a good mood. She was no longer afraid of Damon, but she was still annoyed beyond comparison by him. "You'll change your mind." He said, still cheerful. Elena felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. Wondering how it hadn't been broken in the crash, she pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the screen. The phone flashed _'Incoming call: **Stefan Salvatore**'_. She was about to shove it back in to her pocket when Damon reached over and snatched the phone out of her hand before she could react.

"Damon, don't you dare!" It was too late. Damon had already hit the answer button.

"Elena Gilbert's phone, Damon speaking." He said in a faux-secretary voice. Elena couldn't understand what was being said on the other line, but she could tell that Stefan's voice was very strained. "Relax, little brother. She's with me… and yes, she's safe." Damon added unwillingly. Elena strained her ears to try and understand what Stefan was saying, but to no avail. Damon smiled.

"I'd hand the phone to her, Stefan, but I'm not so sure she wants to talk to you." He was obviously referring to her looking and the phone and ignoring the call. "But here you go." He handed the phone to her with a stupid gloating grin on his face. "It's for you."

"Thanks." Elena mumbled sarcastically before taking the phone and putting it against her ear. "Hello?"

"Elena!" Stefan said, obviously relieved. "I'm so sorry; you have to let me explain."

"No, there's nothing to explain. What was I, some sick sort of replacement? That is beyond twisted." She said in an exasperated sort of mutter.

"Elena, you have to know, you were _never_ a replacement. You are nothing like Katherine. She was selfish, self-centered, and spoiled and nothing at all like you. I love you. Please, tell me where you are and I'll come get you." Stefan pleaded.

"No, Stefan," Elena said, gentler this time. "I kind of get it, but that doesn't mean I forgive you, and it doesn't change that you lied about me looking like a carbon copy of your vampire lover from the 18th century. I need some time to cool down, mull over things…you know, move on. I'm with Damon…so I'm safe up to a point. I'll call you when we're on our way back." Stefan tried to say something but Elena hung the phone up.

"Well aren't you the little heartbreaker. Looks like you came around to my ideas faster than I thought you would…" Damon said, still smiling.

"Just keep driving."

It was almost ten when Damon pulled in to the New York Palace hotel. Elena had fallen back asleep for another hour and Damon gently nudged her arm to wake her up.

"Elena, we're here." She woke up, looking groggy. She looked up at the hotel and smiled.

"Really, Damon? Do you have enough money for this hotel?" Damon pretended to be insulted.

"You should know, Elena, that over the years, the Salvatore family has collected quite the little stash. You'd be surprised." He raised one eyebrow at Elena who rolled her eyes.

Damon rolled the window down as the valet walked towards the still car. "Here you go." Damon slipped the valet a twenty dollar bill. The valet nodded gratefully as Damon opened the car door and stepped out. He walked around to Elena's side of the car and opened the door for her.

"It's good to know that chivalry isn't dead after all." Elena said teasingly as he offered her his hand. Damon rolled his eyes.

"Only within the society of the undead." He corrected her in a mutter. Damon helped her out of the car and steadied her, as she was a bit dizzy from sitting in a car for so long. "After you." He said, gesturing for her to walk in to the lobby.

"Damon, what are we going to do about clothes? I don't know about you, but I definitely didn't pack a suitcase." Elena said, stubbornly.

"Ah, you're a slow little human, aren't you? I'd have thought that you would have thought about that many hours ago, but no. You're too concerned about things like school and parental units. Figures." Damon ranted. Elena had a look of utter stubbornness on her face. "And, btw, that means 'by the way,' we're going shopping." Damon added. Elena couldn't help but smile, in spite of herself, as she anticipated the remainder of the week.


	2. Chapter 2

Elena opened the door of the hotel room and was immediately irritated. "Damon, this room is not very large, and there are two full size beds in here." Damon didn't seem to get Elena's point. "I'm not sharing a room with you!" She complained. A fleeting look of understanding crossed Damon's face and he smiled.

"Actually, Elena, you are." He walked toward her and tapped the tip of her nose. "And you're going to lighten up, or this trip isn't going to be very much fun." Elena stared Damon down, without any trace of fear in her eyes. A smile crept its way up on to Elena's face, while Damon's face simply broke out in a grin.

"You're impossible. Let's go shopping." She said, grabbing his arm. Obviously she hadn't packed any clothes, so she needed a few things to get her through the week. She led Damon out the hotel room door, making sure to grab a room key, just in case. They walked down the hallway to the elevator where they rode down to the lobby.

Elena asked where some good places to shop would be, while Damon called a cab.

Despite the fact that their hotel was in a short walking distance from everything from Fifth Avenue to Madison Avenue, Elena wasn't properly dressed for New York this time of year, nor did she have anything else to change in to, so they agreed to take a cab there and walk back.

After she had gotten some advice on where to go, she walked outside to see Damon waiting outside a cab. He opened the door of the cab for Elena before sliding in next to her.

"Where to?" The cab driver asked.

"Saks Fifth Avenue, at 50th street and Fifth Avenue." Elena said without hesitation.

"You got it."

"Well aren't we diving in headfirst." Damon said with an aggravating smirk on his face. "I hope you can afford it…"

"Actually, I hope you can. You dragged me on this trip, so you're going to buy me some new clothes. It's the least you can do." Elena said in a saccharine-sweet voice. His eyes locked on hers as she said this, and for a moment, Elena forgot all about everything that had happened before they left, and imagined herself _with_ Damon. She quickly averted her eyes, feeling guilty for even entertaining the idea.

The traffic was awful, nothing new when in New York. The cab ride took a little longer than it should have, but they arrived at their destination quickly. They exited the cab and walked towards the doors to Saks, looking to the left to see an advertisement for the movie New Moon on a street lamp. Damon scoffed. "That whole series is just ridiculous. Vampires and sparkling." He shook his head in disgust. Elena burst in to a random fit of laughter, pointing at Damon's arm.

"I knew you were more like the Cullens then you were letting on!" Damon looked down at his arm to see the light reflecting off of a window in Saks on to his arm, making it appear sparkly, per say. He rolled his eyes.

"I think not. C'mon." They walked in to Saks and were greeted warmly by designer dress clad women and custom suited men.

"Hello, welcome to Saks Fifth Ave, are you looking for anything specific?" A woman asked. Elena shook her head.

"No, thank you. We're just looking around." The women nodded and Elena turned to Damon. "I'm going up to women's, where are you going to be?" Damon smiled a mischievous smile.

"You seem to be under the impression that you're shopping by yourself today. Which…you aren't. No, no. I will be coming with _you. _I already know what I like and my size, I can just grab it on the way out." Elena looked horrified.  
"You're shopping _with _me?"

"That _is_ what I said, Elena."

"I hate you." With that, she turned and headed for the escalator, Damon on her heels.

"You only think you hate me." Damon muttered from behind her.

Elena began walking slower and slower as they approached the women's department. Damon walked up from behind her and circled his arm around her waist. "Come on, you can think me as a girlfriend…I'll tell you if those jeans make you look fat," he leaned back and craned his neck to look at Elena's backside. "…which they don't, by the way." Elena laughed and punched him in the arm. He smiled his crooked, half smile and realized how much spending time with Elena reminded him of the good parts of spending time with Katherine.

Elena couldn't help but notice how easy it was, talking to Damon, and she'd be lying to herself if she said he wasn't extremely good looking. He had flawless bone structure that any male model in the world would kill for, but it was more his eyes that Elena found so appealing. He had deep blue eyes that pierced in to your soul. Elena had read that phrase many times in romance novels, yet it was so true for Damon. He had the kind of eyes that make you uncomfortable when you look in to them. And were they ever making Elena uncomfortable.

Damon demanded that Elena model everything that she tried on, as he was paying for it. Elena couldn't really argue with him. She slipped on a pair of nondescript dark wash jeans and walked out of the dressing room. Damon chewed on the inside of his cheek, causing his lips to pucker as he tried to decide whether he liked the jeans or not.

"Turn around." He said with a lift of his head.

"What?" Elena asked, surprised. She hadn't thought that he would know what to look for in a pair of jeans. She turned around in a circle several times with him twisting his pointer finger in a circle to tell her when to stop.

"There okay. Good, not great. Keep going." Elena was shocked that a _man_ had been so decisive about a pair of jeans. She nodded.

"Okay, then. Thanks for your input." She said a bit sarcastically.

Elena tried on several more pairs of expensive jeans: Citizens of Humanity, Rock 'n' Republic, Rock Revival, Sevens, and True Religions. She settled on a pair of worn, boot cut Sevens that were painstakingly soft. She had showed Damon each pair that was presentable and he gave her his honest opinion. He had been right; it hadn't been much different then shopping with Bonnie…except for the fact that it was Damon. He had insisted that she buy at least a couple of outfits for the weak, so Elena also bought two long sleeve shirts, an additional pair of dark wash skintight jean leggings, an orange tank top with bright stones surrounding the neckline, and a Northface coat to wear outside. She had opposed to the tank top and tight jeans originally, but Damon had insisted that for the places they would be going, she would need something a little more fun. This comment had Elena extremely worried about what their activities would be.

"Are you sure you can afford all of this?" Elena asked as they walked up to the cash register.

"Trust me, we were wealthy back in 1895, we're even wealth_ier_ now." He stage whispered to her.

"Okay…thank you." She said earnestly. Damon was a bit taken aback.

"You're…welcome."

"Now, I think you're going to need a new pair of shoes for where we're going, as well." Damon said lightly. "Get a pair you can dance in." He grinned and handed Elena a small wad of bills. She looked down to see five hundred dollars in her hands. She looked up at him in astonishment and rolled her eyes as she saw his smug expression. As he finished paying and grabbing the bags, Damon realized that he liked giving things to Elena. He didn't know if it was giving in general, or just giving to Elena. The latter seemed more likely then the former. He supposed it was because she was genuinely grateful. Her family had never been super wealthy, but she had always had what she needed, this had made her in to the down-to-earth girl he enjoyed spending time with.

Damon walked down to the men's department to get some things while Elena walked up another floor to the shoe department. Sak's shoe department was any shoe fetishista's dream come true. Elena knew that she wanted a pair of heels so she could be at least a few inches taller than her petite 5'3. She finally found a pair of Elizabeth and James black leather, peep-toe ankle boots. She asked one of the workers if she could try a pair on in a size seven and they quickly brought the boots out. They fit perfectly and were surprisingly comfortable, despite the 3" heel, and would be easy to dance in. She paid for the shoes and headed for the escalators to see if Damon was done with his shopping yet.

Damon bought a couple pairs of jeans and a couple new shirts, but clothes weren't really his thing. He paid for his items and then waited for Elena to finish shoe shopping. If she was anything like any other women he'd ever shopped with, he would be waiting at least a half hour. But, then again, when had Elena ever done anything that other girls did. He saw her coming down the escalator almost immediately and laughed to himself. She was carrying a bag that he assumed contained the shoes he had told her to buy.

"I can take the bag if you want…" She said awkwardly, as she eyed the four large bags Damon was carrying.

"I could carry all of these _and_ you and walk out of this door easier than you could carry one of these. I got it." Damon led the way as they walked out of Sak's and in to the cold, New-York-In-November day.

"Okay, well now we have," Damon checked his watch. "Three hours until we need to go back to the hotel and get ready, which means we have….eh, a half hour to bring the bags back to the hotel and dump them with the concierge and two and a half hours to spend at a nice, quiet, Brooklyn corner bar." Elena groaned as the pushy, arrogant Damon resurfaced. "Let's go." He said as he waved the bags in the direction of the hotel. Elena was warmer now that she was wearing the Northface she had just bought, but the frigid air still shocked her as it whipped her hair in all directions. Damon sauntered through the wind easily as Elena nearly blew away. She followed him, trying to catch up, wondering what was on the itinerary for the rest of the week.


End file.
